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Parental Pressure Leads to Wrong Academic Choices

A third of engineering and 40% of medical students are not interested in their fields of study, according to researchers.
Wrong academic decisions and parental pressure on children lead to career problems later in life, and today, many organizations are faced with the problem; discovering talent should not be subjective and skills, abilities and intelligence should be identified professionally, said CEO of Modern Education Development Center Hossein Alian, at the ‘Thought and Talent Management Conference’ held recently in Kashan, IRNA reported. Pointing to the importance of identifying inherent abilities of students, Alian emphasized that if talent is discovered early, it can be a guideline towards deciding one’s future career.

Traditional
In Iran, selecting the field of study is not based on a person’s abilities. Schools are still following the traditional style of education. Consequently, one-third of engineering students and 40% of medical students are not interested in their field of study. This is while in developed countries, the testing of skills and abilities is undertaken at the pre-elementary level. For example Japan, said Alian, “provides free talent tests by craftsmen to identify the necessary vocational talent.”
According to international criteria, talent search is in three categories: general, sports and art which covers age groups 5 to 15. In Iran the testing is “at one level” while the standard form includes “seven levels”, on the results of which future decisions are made. Recently, talent search screening of students has been launched in the country, some of which is related to specific fields. The test will help identify “strong points” and harness such talent. It will help determine how advanced students’ abilities truly are and endeavor to support students, their families and educators, to help identify and engage students to reach their highest potential.